Bisco fans celebrate community

Freaky is the norm as fields become a psychedelic summer camp for 20-somethings

By Matthew Hamilton

Updated 11:37 pm, Friday, July 12, 2013

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

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Mike Tibbitts, left, of Albany and Jenny Spitz of White Plains dance in the B.I.G. tent on day two of Camp Bisco in Mariaville, NY Friday July 12, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Mike Tibbitts, left, of Albany and Jenny Spitz of White Plains dance in the B.I.G. tent on day two of Camp Bisco in Mariaville, NY Friday July 12, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

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Concertgoers line up to catch the bus to Camp Bisco, the four-day music festival that starts Thursday in Duanesburg. (Michael P. Farrell / Times Union)

Concertgoers line up to catch the bus to Camp Bisco, the four-day music festival that starts Thursday in Duanesburg. (Michael P. Farrell / Times Union)

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Joleena Canfield of Buffalo practice with her hula hoop as she and her husband wait for the gates to open at Camp Bisco on Wednesday July 10, 2013 in Pattersonville, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Joleena Canfield of Buffalo practice with her hula hoop as she and her husband wait for the gates to open at Camp Bisco on Wednesday July 10, 2013 in Pattersonville, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Autum Shaw-Dah of New Jersey bows bubbles while she and friends wait till the gates of Camp Bisco open on Wednesday July 10, 2013 in Pattersonville, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Autum Shaw-Dah of New Jersey bows bubbles while she and friends wait till the gates of Camp Bisco open on Wednesday July 10, 2013 in Pattersonville, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Photo: Michael P. Farrell

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Camp Bisco goers gather and wait down the road for the gates to open at Camp Bisco on Wednesday July 10, 2013 in Pattersonville, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Camp Bisco goers gather and wait down the road for the gates to open at Camp Bisco on Wednesday July 10, 2013 in Pattersonville, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Photo: Michael P. Farrell

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Workers complete final preparations amid the muck created by Wednesday afternoon storms at one of the main stages for the Camp Bisco festival in Mariaville. The three-day festival begins Thursday. On Wednesday, final security and medical preparations were being made for the estimated 15,000 who will descend on the Indian Lookout Country Club. (Matthew Hamilton/Times Union) less

Workers complete final preparations amid the muck created by Wednesday afternoon storms at one of the main stages for the Camp Bisco festival in Mariaville. The three-day festival begins Thursday. On Wednesday, ... more

Childhood friends Lia Monteferrante, left, of Vancouver, Canada and Juliana Frinberg of Salt Lake City during day two of Camp Bisco in Mariaville, NY Friday July 12, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Childhood friends Lia Monteferrante, left, of Vancouver, Canada and Juliana Frinberg of Salt Lake City during day two of Camp Bisco in Mariaville, NY Friday July 12, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

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Fans cheer Killer Mike and EL-P as they perform on the main stage during day two of Camp Bisco in Mariaville, NY Friday July 12, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Fans cheer Killer Mike and EL-P as they perform on the main stage during day two of Camp Bisco in Mariaville, NY Friday July 12, 2013. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

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Bisco fans celebrate community

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Duanesburg

On the way down the hill that separates the gates of Indian Lookout Country Club and the vast open fields, bass starts thumping off the ear drums, the eyes are assaulted by neon and strobes and the nose catches a blend of cigarettes and marijuana smoke.

Camp Bisco turns the quaint fields of Mariaville into a psychedelic summer camp.

In its 12th year, the music festival is expected to bring in a crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 mostly 20-somethings for a show of electronic music, indie rock, hip hop, art and what festivalgoers say is family.

"The whole overall atmosphere and the circumspection of the Bisco atmosphere is about the community of people," said Cody Stryker of Long Island while listening to smooth guitar riffs from Toro Y Moi on the main stage.

The scene inside Camp Bisco has recently drawn fire for being too drug friendly, where some say a variety of substances is so readily available, that some sell test kits to determine what is actually in someone's drugs.

But many attending were adamant that the criticism has arisen because of the few, rather than the masses.

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Adama Cregeur of Connecticut said that while Camp Bisco "is a beautiful thing" stereotypes abound. He said in a city of 50,000 people, there would be similar shady dealings but at Bisco the spotlight is harsh.

"The idea it's any better or any worse than any other collection of people is nonsense," he said.

Elliot Podsiadlo of Buffalo, at his first Bisco Friday, said the music is the reason tens of thousands come.

Mark Paul "Madsteez" Deren said in between brush strokes that he traveled from Newport Beach, Calif., for his first Bisco and to paint a purple, orange and green mural of rapper Danny Brown. A Coachella music festival veteran, he said Bisco offered a wealth of visual stimulation that was overwhelming.

"Coachella is really Hollywood," he said. "The crowd here is more electronic by their dress. It's like Halloween."

Some attendees wore simple bikini tops or T-shirts while others got outlandish, dressing in neon-colored feather skirts, donning 3-D glasses and even going so far as to build totems to hold up in the crowds. The totems turned the site inside the music tents and in front of the main stages into what rivals only the sections of hardcore supporters of European soccer teams, who wave large flags with different symbols throughout games.

Among the totems within Friday's crowd was Boston-native Mike Jauquet's mannequin head with a black and red mohawk on an orange and white traffic-cone-like pole.

Jauquet said the totems make it easier to pick attendees to pick themselves out in concert photos and for friends to find where someone is.

"And they freak people out."

But at Bisco freaky is the norm.

"It's a cool community because everyone is really creative," said Jaime Foley, who was selling handmade hula hoops and costumes. "And they're accepting. Usually people are open to helping other people and meeting new friends. It doesn't matter what you are wearing or doing."